Chillies - growing and overwintering 2019

[Philthy]

My overwintered 1 yr olds always go into 15L pots for their second season. I'll usually try to overwinter five of those plants again - five because that's the max no. of 15L pots I can easily accommodate in my overwintering space in addition to that seasons 1 yr olds of which there are usually about fifteen, each in a 4L pot. I favour the dormant method of overwintering. I'd personally avoid disturbing the root ball at the end of a season as doing so could be either detrimental to the plant's wellbeing or could encourage some new growth when the overwintering environment is not supportive of such. I can't fit 15L pots on my windowsill either, but so long as the compost is kept on the dryer side and the temperature kept cool i.e. heating in that room deactivated, the plants will tolerate being on a desk / table away from the window They'll spend their time cycling between perpetual gloom and darkness on a daily basis; that's fine the plants aren't actually growing, they're just ticking over.

You can root prune of course but like Scarlet says you need to do likewise with the foliage so it balances.

[SimpleSimon]

Thanks. So do you not prune the plant back at all? They aren't huge but pretty bushy and might be a bit of a pain. I was going to prune the tops back to the main stem and a couple of side stems.

[Scarlet]

I don't. Though everyone has their own method.
If you prune you often get die back From the pruning cut. If it goes into the stem low down often the plant is lost. Pruning now could encourage soft new growth which you want to avoid.
I prune in early Spring, taking out anything that is dead, just to give it a better shape, encourage side shooting on branches or take out anything that's a bit spindly. Some plants that have been in the house have reached the ceiling

Mitzi keeps here plants small due to space restraints ...but she grows in small pots from the start.

[Mitzi]

Mitzi keeps here plants small due to space restraints ...but she grows in small pots from the start.

That's true of the ones that never went outside but last year I brought some indoors that had been outside in MFBs which I think are approx 11l but I may be wrong. I potted them down into 8" square pots so basically I had to "square off" the round root ball plus remove the bottom few inches as the MFBs are taller.

I cut back the top growth by about half, removing all the thin stems but still keeping lots of leaves on because I had them in heated rooms so they were never going to go dormant. Early this year I had a caterpillar problem so cut them hard back and removed all leaves.

They all survived - I did lose two plants but not the ones I potted down. However, it was nowhere near as drastic as Simon is suggesting. I think I'd say try it but accept that you might lose them.

[SimpleSimon]

Thanks
I may rethink this a touch as I have a room that's unheated in the house and can possible accommodate slightly larger pots. But I defo need to cut the foliage back a fair bit. They are quite bushy (all different habenero types) and would just be a nightmare to have there all winter.
I did do 2 in really small pots with the aim of using them to overwinter but they have not done so well as keeping them healthy in my tunnel I'm such small lots was really tough. They dried out pretty much every day and drooped. And they were fairly pale all summer. They did produce a small crop tho. I gave up caring after a while as I had so many plants I just thought oh well, that didn't work

[moreteavicar]

Newbie question.

On TV the other night, Monty was talking about chillies - fruity rather than heat.
I am a complete woos when it comes to chilli heat.
Please can anyone recommend some varieties that are fruity rather than volcanic?

[dave_100]

Newbie question.

On TV the other night, Monty was talking about chillies - fruity rather than heat.
I am a complete woos when it comes to chilli heat.
Please can anyone recommend some varieties that are fruity rather than volcanic?

Hungarian hot wax might be worth looking into. Lemon drop and sugar rush peach if you can handle a bit of heat.

[SimpleSimon]

Hungarian hot wax might be worth looking into. Lemon drop and sugar rush peach if you can handle a bit of heat.

My lemon drops this year are really quite pokey. You can grow some with no heat. Apple crisp is one and Trinidad perfume too. Trinidad perfume are supposed to taste like scotch bonnet a but with zero heat.

[Mitzi]

Newbie question.

On TV the other night, Monty was talking about chillies - fruity rather than heat.
I am a complete woos when it comes to chilli heat.
Please can anyone recommend some varieties that are fruity rather than volcanic?

Trinidad Perfume and Tobago Seasoning are two “flavouring peppers” and Pink Habanero (grown by some on here) are mild too.

Quite a few of the baccatums are fruity but low heat e.g. I grew Aji Champion last year and it was pretty much heatless but a much nicer flavour than say bell peppers.

SP and VC have been growing some other low-heat chillies this year so hopefully they can report back on those.

[stigs]

Komodo Dragon

My Komodo Dragon has just decided to have it's first flower, I went out to get it ready for over wintering, I wonder should I leave it for a bit and then put it on a window sill when it starts to gets consistently too cold in the tunnel ?
It doesn't seem to react the same as other superhots.

[chillithyme]

These are some of my chillies from this year. Trinidad Perfume, Habanero/scotch bonnet (can’t remember which)cayenne, Apache, Hungarian Hot Wax, and Cajun Belle . I have lots of fruit still to ripen outside in my mini greenhouse. I only have space to overwinter 3 plants at the most, though I’m undecided on which to save, they are all such beautiful plants

[chillithyme]

I second growing Trinidad perfume for flavour, however mine did have a small amount of heat and wasn't entirely heatless. Same with Hungarian hot wax, not so hot young, but the longer it is left on the plant, the more heat it gives.

Newbie question.

On TV the other night, Monty was talking about chillies - fruity rather than heat.
I am a complete woos when it comes to chilli heat.
Please can anyone recommend some varieties that are fruity rather than volcanic?

[Small pumpkin]

Newbie question.

On TV the other night, Monty was talking about chillies - fruity rather than heat.
I am a complete woos when it comes to chilli heat.
Please can anyone recommend some varieties that are fruity rather than volcanic?

As others have said Trinidad perfume is good
I’ve grown apple crisp this year. You might as well just have a sweet pepper. Same goes for the no heat jalapeño I grew this year.
Another vote for Havana gold. Lovely flavour. Yes it has a little heat but it’s not going to take your head off. You could go with a good old jalapeño. It’s not to hot, and it’s incredibly versatile, so many things you can do with it. I recommend you google cowboy candy & jalapeño poppers . Removing seeds will reduce the heat level even more if needed.
I’d avoided the suggestion of lemon drop & sugar rush peach. They do have a lovely flavour, a couple of my favourite varieties, but they are far to hot for a self confessed woos even with seeds removed.

[Mitzi]

You know how I've been having trouble with plants not being what they're supposed to be, this year? Well, my rocoto canario yellow (the clue's in the name) is FINALLY ripening - it's taken months to change colour, and now it's going... wait for it... red.

I give up.

[stigs]

You know how I've been having trouble with plants not being what they're supposed to be, this year? Well, my rocoto canario yellow (the clue's in the name) is FINALLY ripening - it's taken months to change colour, and now it's going... wait for it... red.

I give up.

My Cheyenne should be Heavy fruiting with orange pods that I use as a staple for my sauce every year is not heavy fruiting and has green pods with black blotches and has that grapefruit smell of Royal Black however the seeds I use go back long before I ever had a Royal Black. I don't have final colour ripeness yet who knows what they'll turn out like "arn't chillies fun !! "